Carbon Dioxide Emissions Trading Market: Major Opportunities Ahead (In Europe, for Sure; in China, India, U.S., Maybe)

For those interested in carbon emissions trading, there is a story in the Financial Times that is a must read.

Despite the fact that in the U.S. emissions trading is in its infancy, emissions trading in Europe is a major new field of opportunity. Last year, for example, about $92 billion of the $126 bill carbon market was based in Europe thanks to the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which was put into place in 2005.

How about the U.S.? Well federal legislators continue to stumble along with various half-baked proposals, some of which this blog has commented on in the past. China and India? Your guess is as good as my son Paco's. But suffice it to say, there is no federal legislation in place in any of these climate laggards.

Anyway, the FT has published an extremely interesting and useful article ("Making Profits For a Cleaner Cause," July 30, 2009) that explains, "The people behind the emissions market are an unusual alliance of commercially minded traders, former development workers, and environmentalists."

Paul Newman, who leads the emissions trading effort at Icap, puts all of this in greater context: "People fundamentally like to feel they are doing something bigger than making money. Having been a part of creating an emissions market is something we will all be able to tell our grandchildren about."

If emissions trading interests you, be sure to read this article and do some research on the companies mentioned in the piece.